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Friday, May 30, 2008

The Simple Woman's Cannery

Lately we have been coming across a lot of information from various sources about the possibility of a coming food shortage in the world. This got us to thinking again about planting a garden. We have tried it in the past, but never really did very well with it. No one was ever that enthusiastic about going out there and weeding and half the time we would forget to water it. Last year when the weather was great for gardening, we didn't even bother. This year we decided we would have to try again but maybe on a little smaller scale. Everyone has agreed, so far, that they will pitch in.

With a garden, we also got to discussing canning. I have never canned anything. My grandparents would can all kinds of things (my favorite was Grandma's peach jelly). They had the customary Polish kitchen down in the basement and would spend the late summer and fall down there canning away. Unfortunately I never was very interested in learning the ins and outs of it, so the art of canning has died away in our family. I lamented that I would like to learn, but really think it would be easier if there was someone who could show me.

The day after we had this conversation, one of my daughters was blog hopping and came in to tell me that she had stumbled upon a blog that a woman had just started and it is all about how to can. What got me even more excited is that she really did just start the blog, so that meant that I wasn't behind and didn't have a lot of posts to read to catch up! Her blog is called The Simple Woman's Cannery. Right now she is having a drawing for a Ball Blue Book of canning and a Ball utensil set. I'm so excited! It looks like there will be someone who will be able to walk me through this canning thing after-all. Now all I need is some seeds to plant that will actually grow and produce enough fruits and vegetables so that I have something to can!! Check out her blog if you are interested in learning about canning. I bet it will even make a great unit study :)

3 comments:

Oh Laura, This is great news about canning. It's something we've wanted to do for a couple of years and have never gotten around to it. I'll be sure to check out the website. Also, I briefly met a woman in Wheaton with a wonderful garden and she has all of these easy, practical tips and she has beautiful vegetables. I want to walk over and talk with her and bring a notebook. I'll be sure to share what I've learned with you. God bless you, Dolores H